1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of business-to-business (B2B) transactions, and more particularly, to linking businesses having common interests.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic commerce (eCommerce) typically flows between businesses which are familiar with one another or between businesses sharing one or more common interests. ECommerce also provides businesses with an invaluable opportunity for forming new business relationships and strategic alliances. To exploit eCommerce opportunities, however, businesses must have knowledge of existing and potential market participants. Businesses choosing to share such knowledge gain an opportunity to form new synergistic business relationships. For instance, business A may benefit from forging a new relationship with the business-to-business (B2B) service provider and the financial service provider of one of its partner businesses. These newly formed relationships can benefit from the synergy existing between business A and its partner, as well as increase the overall amount of business activity among each of the participants.
Presently, the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) specification provides a platform-independent, open framework for describing services, discovering businesses, and integrating business services using the Internet, as well as an operational registry. Although the UDDI specification provides a standard interface for publishing and discovering information about other businesses, the UDDI specification lacks any mechanism for linking businesses having common interests. Accordingly, no forum exists for bringing together businesses having common interests.